The present invention relates generally to footwear and more particularly to a ski boot of the rear entry type having provision for releasably mounting closure buckles to the boot.
Plastic ski boots of the rear entry type commonly incorporate buckle closure systems for securing the ski boot to the foot of the wearer. One such closure system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,135, issued Mar. 23, 1976 and assigned to Hanson Industries Inc., Boulder, Colo. As may be seen by reference thereto, such closure systems include a cable looped through a clamp attached to the boot near one edge of the rear entry opening and an assembly including a buckle on the other side of the rear opening for engaging the cable loop to secure a tongue closing the rear opening in place. The buckle assembly which includes a buckle stand in which the buckle is pivotally mounted heretofore commonly has been riveted to a plastic buckle pad integrally molded with the shell of the boot. Since its introduction, this type of closure system has become extremely popular and has proven to be an effective means for closing ski boots of the rear entry type.
Because the buckle stand on which the buckle is pivoted is riveted to the boot, however, should it become necessary to replace the buckle assembly, care must be taken to remove the old buckle stand without damaging the boot and then mount a new buckle assembly on the boot. The difficulties associated with replacing the buckle assembly have been alleviated by the development of releasable, non-riveted buckle assemblies which have the added advantage of reducing material and labor costs by eliminating the rivet and the manufacturing step required to manually rivet the buckle stand to the ski boot.
One such assembly incorporates a buckle stand comprising a generally U-shaped clip having a pair of opposing, inwardly directed flanges at respective ends thereof for engaging the corresponding outwardly directed flanges of a generally T-shaped lug integrally molded with the boot to mount the stand to the boot. Problems arise, however, in molding the T-shaped lug with the boot. In particular, backdrafts are commonly provided in the ski boot shell molds to provide the undercut portions of the lug, but in removing the molded shell from the molds, the lug flanges tend to hang up in the backdrafts of the mold. This results in minute tears in the molded product which weaken the lug and increase its susceptibility to failure.